"Around the world in 80 days," was written in the 1870s. Wow. I am floored. A year of life is so long, it's almost beyond a human brain to think of 140 years of the passage of time. So much of 19th century fic, moreover, is full of intensely ornate, highly agglutinized sentences. The people, finally, tend to be stiff, neurasthenic, and boring. And yet, this adventure book is perfectly readable.

The story is tightly written and includes Tintin like adventures in exotic settings. Maybe the most fun part is to read the wikipedia page on Verne and learn that the French consider him a part of the national heritage. Yes, maybe Verne is truly global heritage level. I can buy that--adventure thrillers are also hard to write

Quickly moving and yet seemingly authentic. Fascinating run through of world in the 1870, including attitudes and beliefs of the time. 4/5 although if we take into account the age of the work, would be the full 5.